Herbs-Treat and Taste is about herbs and spices and their uses in medicine and cookery.We give recipes and information which enable people to have a healthier diet which can prevent certain illnesses and alleviate symptoms such as a cough, sore throat etc.There is information on different herbs,their history ,what other people think or thought about them and what we think.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: We have nothing to do with any site which offers vitamin or dietary supplements!

We Need Your Feedback

We want you to tell us what you would like to see on our posts; more recipes, more information about the same herbs and spices, or do you want to know about different ones?If so,which? Please leave answers to these questions in the comments boxes.We have made it easier for you to do this (today). If you have any other advice or a recipe that you would like us to include, tell us (recipes will be attributed to you).

Friday, July 8, 2011

PECAN: THE ALL - AMERICAN NUT: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF PECANS: BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH PECANS RECIPE

PECANS, CARYA ILLINOINENSIS

As the Latinized form of the name Illinois suggests, pecans were first ‘discovered’ by European traders in that state, who named them Illinois nuts. They must have been planted there by the Native Americans who were eating them at least 8,000 years ago in the area of what is now Texas, according to archaeological evidence. They originated in the Mississippi river basin Pecan nuts are a valuable source of protein and contain vitamins A, E andB-complexones along with the minerals copper, zinc, potassium, iron, calcium, manganese and phosphorous. They have antioxidant properties, and contain good fats such as oleic acid. They are members of the hickory genus and members of thewalnut family, Juglanaceae. In fact they can be substituted for walnuts in most recipes and vice versa.

The name ‘pecan’ came from the Algonquin word pecane which describes the qualities of the nut and shell; ‘nut so hard that it requires a stone to crack’. The pecan trees are slow-growing that may begin to produce seeds (pecan nuts) after 6 years, but it may take longer. The nuts, which are technically seeds, take 6 – 9 months to ripen on the tree, and are obvious when the leaves fall in autumn. Then you will get a good crop of nuts one year followed by a much smaller harvest the following year. The trees attract butterflies and the nuts are avidly taken by gray squirrels, opossums, raccoons and other animals if people don’t get to them first. The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas.

Thomas Jefferson planted pecans at Monticello and gave some to George Washington. The trees planted by these two presidents are now the oldest ones in Mount Vernon. The trees can grow up to 180 feet high and have spreading crowns of up to 120 feet, so providing as much shade as thebohar or banyan tree in the Indian subcontinent. The trees flower in April through to May with male catkins and female flowers on the same tree.

Pecans are now grown in Spain, Egypt, Israel, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, France, Australia and South Africa. Varieties of the pecan tree have all been named after Native American tribes, as after all the nuts were a staple for them in the past.

Native Americans used a decoction of the bark of the pecan tree as a remedy for TB, and an infusion of the leaves and bark was used for dysentery and diarrhoea and externally for skin problems. The pulped leaves were put onto fungal infections such as ringworm to get rid of them. Charcoal from the tree was used to smoke meats. Milk can be made from the seeds and used to thicken soup, or to flavour corn cakes etc. Oil is extracted from the seeds and can be used on salads or in cooking in the same way as walnut or sesameoil.

Research on lab animals has shown that pecans and the tree have properties which may reduce the risks or some neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and may also reduce the risks of heart disease and cancer, but more extensive research is needed into the properties of the tree and the nuts.

The wood from the pecan can be made into furniture, as it has much the same qualities as hickory wood and it can also be used for paneling and veneer. Perhaps the most famous use for pecans is pecan pie, which is made in many homes at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pecan pie is as American as apple pie, but not as well-known in the rest of the world. However you can do a lot of things with pecans, such as adding them to biscuits, bread and cakes. Interestingly the first written Pecan Pie recipe dates back only to 1925, so perhaps it is a relative newcomer to US cuisine.

The recipe below cam be made with blue cheese, such as a Blue Gloucester, Cheshire, or Roquefort and also could be made with Feta. I use Blue Stilton because I enjoy the taste of a really good one.